by Andrew Maynard | Jul 5, 2015 | Emerging Technology, Nanotechnology, Public Health
On May 29th, there were 52,000 nanoparticles per cubic centimeter of air measured at the top of the Eiffel Tower. This may not seem the most compelling opening to an article, until you realize that the measurement was made in 1889 – over 100 years before nanotechnology and nanoparticles began hitting headlines as one of the most talked about emerging technologies in recent decades. The particles were measured by the Scottish scientist John Aitken, using his newly developed device for counting airborne dust particles.
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 5, 2015 | Future, Nanotechnology, Responsible Innovation, Risk
Responsible innovation is a great concept – it embodies ideas around ensuring our inventiveness works for the long term good of society, without inadvertently throwing up more problems than it solves. But to entrepreneurs and others trying to make ends meet while launching a new product or idea, it can quickly begin to look like an ill-affordable luxury
by Andrew Maynard | Nov 18, 2014 | Nanotechnology
First published in Nature Nanotechnology, 5 March 2014. Nature Nanotechnology 9, 159–160 (2014) doi:10.1038/nnano.2014.43 [Link] Ten years after the publication of an influential report on the uncertainties in nanoscale science and engineering, are we in danger of...
by Andrew Maynard | Sep 3, 2014 | Nanotechnology, Public Health, Risk
Pick up a jar of chili powder, and the chances are it will contain a small amount of fumed silica – an engineered nanomaterial that’s been around for over half a century. The material – which is formed from microscopically small particles of...
by Andrew Maynard | Aug 20, 2014 | Nanotechnology
Why are materials important? How do they limit what we can achieve? And what can we do to change this? (Check out the videos below). Advanced Materials Materials and how we use them are inextricably linked to the development of human society. Yet amazing as historic...
by Andrew Maynard | Jul 16, 2014 | Nanotechnology
Vantablack – the new black? Over the past few days, the interweb’s been awash with virtual “oohs” and “ahs” over Surrey Nanosystems’ carbon nanotube-based Vantablack coating. The material – which absorbs over...
